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Our take: White roses and thorns

Updated:
12/07/2012 02:04:44 PM EST

WHITE ROSES: To Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey for both fighting to prevent job losses at the West Manchester Township BAE Systems plant, which upgrades the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The senators might not agree on too many things, but they see that losing those defense jobs, as outlined in President Obama's 2013 budget, would hurt our economy (and their political prospects).

ROSES: To state Rep. Mike Fleck, R-Huntingdon County, for coming out of the closet as gay.

ROSES: To Gov. Tom Corbett for encouraging bipartisan cooperation in Harrisburg - and for admitting he could use some improvement on that front as well.

THORNS: To Beverly Atwater for apparently abandoning her York city school board seat. She's had frequent absences this year, and the board this week declared the seat vacant. The district wouldn't tolerate such truancy among students. It has pressing problems and needs engaged board members to help solve them.

ROSES: To Jeff Koons, the internationally acclaimed artist raised in Dover, for being honored by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for his contributions to the Art in Embassies program. Mr. Koons has donated artwork for several embassies. It's not quite as prestigious as an embassy, but it would be wonderful to have a Koons on display somewhere in York County. Hint hint.

THORNS: Karl Breedon from embezzling more than $377,000 from the company he served as CFO - Advanced Industrial Services.

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He was sentenced to just short of a year in prison - despite pleas from family members who said house arrest that would be the "ultimate punishment," keeping him from biking and going to the beach. Really? His company was reportedly laying people off as he was siphoning off money, earning him the Scrooge treatment of being arrested on Christmas Eve 2010. He had the chutzpah to ask that his prison term be postponed until after Christmas. Roses to Judge Michael Bortner for saying humbug to that.

ROSES: To Devan Barker and Josh McMahon, the organizers of the Grady-A-Thon dance marathon Dec. 1 in honor of Dover Area High School gym teacher and volleyball coach Barbara Grady, who died of ovarian cancer this summer.

ROSES: To the organizers of the discussion "Being Muslim - in York County," which focused on dispelling misconceptions about the religion.

ROSES: To brothers Jerome and Bennie Carter for hold a peace protest along Route 30 last weekend in the wake of several late-night shootings along the stretch.

ROSES: To the Stewartstown Railroad Co. for filing for a stay of a federal board's decision to abandon the rail line at the request of the estate of George M. Hart. Any delay that would give the railroad time to pay off its debts and avoid liquidation is worthwhile to keep this historic local treasure.

ROSES: To the York city school district for its "Go Safe" program creating safe pathways for students to walk to and from school - with designated "safe havens" along the way for students.

THORNS: To Prudhomme's restaurant in Columbia for mischaracterizing a state Human Relations Commission decision on an atheist's complaint that giving discounts to people presenting church bulletins was discriminatory. The restaurant initially said the complaint was dropped. Not at all. The HRC ordered the restaurant to accept publications from atheist organizations for discounts as well as churches. Thorns also to complainant John Wolff for, at heart, a pretty frivolous complaint.

THORNS: To news that the amount of heat-trapping pollution worldwide increased last year by 3 percent. The U.S. and Germany were the only two large industrialized nations that reduced emissions. But we still have a long, long way to go to forestall the effects of global warming.